RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

He said after winning gold: 'We were saying if we have a bad start, we need to crash to get a restart. I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really.'

Last night British Cycling categorically denied the fall was any part of a plan and said Hindes's comments were 'lost in translation' from a man who began learning English only after moving to Manchester from his native Germany two years ago.

Tainted gold: Sir Chris Hoy celebrates his win by kissing his wife Sarra. But the victory was mired in controversy last night

Hoy and his wife Sarra pose with the gold medal

Hindes crashed in the heat, but the race was allowed to be restarted - and trio stormed to a new world record

Early wobble: Philip Hiindes lost control of his bike soon after the start of qualyifing

The International Cycling Union confirmed that the incident had been reviewed at the time and the result was not in question – so all three British cyclists will keep their gold medals.

Losing finalists France said the action was not against the rules so they will not dispute the result. But they said it left a 'bitter' taste and they called for a change in the way such incidents are handled.

Hindes subsequently denied it was deliberate when asked about his earlier comments. 'No,' he said, 'I just went out the gate and just lost control, just fell down.

'My back wheel slipped and totally lost control and then I couldn’t handle the bike any more and just crashed.'

There was also gold for Britain in the double trap clay shooting with farmer’s son Peter Wilson. And Etienne Stott and Tim Baillie won the canoe slalom pairs.

The pain and the pride

Amid extraordinary noise and
excitement from 6,000 packed in the Velodrome, champion cyclist Sir
Chris Hoy joined Sir Steve Redgrave on five gold medals – the most by
any British Olympian – as he led home the three-man team sprint in a
world record time.

But his victory came just 37 minutes
after the shattering disqualification of British golden girl Victoria
Pendleton and her partner Jess Varnish in the women’s sprint.

There were gasps of disbelief from a
crowd including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and
David Cameron, as it was announced that the gold medal favourites had
been ‘relegated’ after Pendleton appeared to move too early at the end
of the first lap of the two-lap race.

Record breaker: An exhausted Hoy celebrates with coach Shane Sutton at the side of the Velodrome track after his triumph in the Men's Team Sprint Track final

The devastated 31-year-old had
seen her dream of three gold medals in London – her final championship
before retiring – vanish in the blink of an eye.

Devastated: A shattered Victoria Pendleton has her dream dashed by disqualification

She tearfully buried her head in her hands, shaking her head in disbelief.

Britain’s cycling boss David
Brailsford hurled a water bottle at a wall in frustration, while a
clearly shocked Pendleton was comforted by Hoy.

She then went backstage where she was
seen ‘sobbing’ with friends and family. Her partner, Jess Varnish – who
is not competing in any other event – left the building without giving
interviews.

Pendleton and Varnish had made a
blistering start to their campaign, setting a new world record in their
qualifying round only to see China better it in the next heat. They were
set for a gold medal race-off against China, but then officials said
they had been relegated.

Pendleton said: ‘I’m desperately
disappointed for Jess because she has done an incredible job in getting
this far.

'Her team sprint today was the best of her life so far. I’ve no
doubt she will be back in Rio and absolutely smashing it. I’m sorry for
disappointing all the people that have come to support us and perhaps
not offering the ride that we would have done. I’m really sorry.’

The cyclist, who has two events left –
the individual sprint and keirin – admitted: ‘We’re both partly to
blame. We were a bit overwhelmed by the moment.’

Last night the German sprint pair who took gold called for a change in ‘weird’ rules governing technical disqualifications.

‘It is not the way we wanted to win,’ one said.

The contrast could not have been
greater to the celebrations that greeted Hoy’s victory with Jason Kenny
and Philip Hindes as they defeated France in a thrilling final win that
took Britain’s gold medal tally to five – three in one day.

In formation: Great Britain's men ride towards their new world record as the Velodrome crowd look on

Philip Hindes (front), Jason Kenny (C) and Sir Chris Hoy (back) led from the start and never gave France the chance to catch them

Packed out: Great Britain's riders were roared to victory by a vociferous Velodrome crowd this evening

DID HOY'S TEAM-MATE CRASH DELIBERATELY?

Questions were raised last night over Britain’s spectacular cycling win after one of the team appeared to claim he had deliberately fallen off in one of the heats.

The British team were allowed to restart the qualifier after Philip Hindes crashed seconds into the race. He later helped propel Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny to two world records and Olympic gold.

The 19-year-old, born in Germany, seemed to suggests the crash was part of a deliberate ploy, saying: ‘We were saying: “If we have a bad start, we need to crash to get a restart”. I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really.’

Last night British Cycling said Hindes’s comments were ‘lost in translation’ from a man who began learning English only after moving to Manchester two years ago. The International Cycling Association confirmed the incident had been reviewed at the time and the result was not in question.

Neither silver medallists France nor Germany, who won the bronze, said they would be protesting. There is no rule to govern such an incident and no appeal is possible.

Hindes later denied the crash was deliberate. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I just went out the gate and just lost control, just fell down.’

Hoy was in tears as Princess Anne
presented him with a fifth gold of his career, a second for Kenny and a
first for Hindes, 19, who competed for Germany, the country of his
birth, as a junior and joined Team GB earlier this year, qualifying
because his father is British.

‘It’s quite overwhelming,’ Hoy said.
‘We knew it was possible but it’s easier said than done for everyone to
come good on the same day.

‘I feel immense pride to be able to do
this in London, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I can’t
overstate what it means. This is the most memorable medal of my career.’

He said the crowd and noise had made a ‘huge’ difference.

With the doors closed and the heating
turned up, the conditions were said to be ideal for fast riding in the
Velodrome, which had been built under the direction of Hoy.

And he did not disappoint, afterwards
milking the applause as David Bowie’s Heroes played and the crowd
acclaimed their own Team GB heroes.

'Now and again rubbish things happen
and this is one of those days. The only positives I can take is that I
know I am in really good form because that was the fastest second lap I
have done. I just need to get my head down and concentrate on the races
to come.

'I'm desperately disappointed for Jess Varnish because she has done an incredible job in getting this far.

'Her
team sprint today was the best of her life so far. I've no doubt she
will be back in Rio and absolutely smashing it. I'm sorry for
disappointing all the people that have come to support us and perhaps
not offering the ride that we would have done. I'm really sorry.'